Let’s not get political … factual / info / advice 
… that’s partly a reminder for me … must not discuss political opinion on here 
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Yeah it was through ebay
eBay… What a bunch of self entitled morons, it was decent 15+ years ago, now it’s just a pathetic moneygrabbing scam friendly hell, and now they got the power to get you in trouble with taxes. Great!
Along with PayPal I think they’re two of the biggest examples of internet decline and enshittification.
Two services born to solve a problem, now becoming an even worse problem.
The only advice I can give you is once out of this situation don’t give eBay or any other greedy, shady tech-company this power anymore, find other solutions, even if that means more efforts.
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In a cynical sense, they’re going after the right people. Much easier for HMRC, with their limited resources and well-connected, politicised leadership, to come after small fry like you and me, than to make corporations pay up £££££ that they dodge because they have fancy lawyers and lobbyists.
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A quick tip for any UK peeps who think they might have to declare their eBay sales income:
If you are selling things that you do not have a proof of purchase for, thus aren’t able to write down the profit of the sale by the purchase amount (this is allowed for buying ‘stock’), then you also have the option of declaring you want to use your £1000 tax-free allowance when completing a self-assessment. Obviously this is only worth doing if you can’t prove more than £1000 worth of ‘stock’ purchases.
You are also allowed to transfer some of your personal tax threshold to a partner, but I don’t know the full ins and outs of this as I’ve never had to do it.
Don’t forget also that things like eBay/PayPal fees, postage costs, and packing materials are valid expenses that can be written off against the gross profit.
The long and short of it is that there are many ways to minimise tax liability offered by HMRC’s rules, you just need to find out which might be applicable to your situation, and consulting a professional would be a good move if you haven’t got the time to become your own accountant.
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Online platforms are required by law, and as much as I don’t like big corporations, I doubt they’d take on extra costs if they didn’t have to. Just saying—you’re aiming at the wrong target.
Let’s see how these corporations are honestly paying taxes before letting them determine our own taxes.
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They don’t determine the taxes; they are legally obligated to report sales once a threshold has been exceeded otherwise, they face fines.
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How does this work when I’m just selling gear I’ve bought over the years. If I want to down size synths , books , clothes. None of it is new , I doubt any will turn a profit … I’ve paid tax on my salary to buy it .
I guess I could limit sales to under £1000 a year …
maybe use gumtree as payment isn’t through their site ?
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Most of them do anything in their power to escape taxes in most countries to the expenses of poor citizens who are trying to make a dime and survive.
I’m not gonna defend them, obligated to report or not they are disgusting.
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Also the idea of being reported by the biggest tax frauds in existence is not really a good prospect!
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CGT Possessions
You may have to pay Capital Gains Tax if you make a profit (‘gain’) when you sell (or ‘dispose of’)
A personal possession for £6,000 or more.
Possessions you may need to pay tax on include:
- jewellery
- paintings
- antiques
- coins and stamps
- sets of things, eg matching vases or chessmen
You’ll need to work out your gain to find out whether you need to pay tax.
When you don’t pay it
You don’t usually need to pay tax on gifts to your husband, wife, civil partner or a charity.
You don’t pay Capital Gains Tax on:
- your car - unless you’ve used it for business
- anything with a limited lifespan, eg clocks - unless used for business
Jointly owned possessions
You’re exempt from paying tax on the first £6,000 of your share if you own a possession with other people.
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“ You don’t have to pay Capital Gains Tax on personal possessions with a lifespan of less than 50 years. This covers all machinery, and includes things like antique clocks or watches.”
Are electronic musical instruments ‘machinery’? 
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Of course - I love my machinery drum
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Are these new rules for everyone or is there a threshold before this nonsense kicks in?
Why should anyone pay tax on selling their own possessions?
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Capital gains tax has always been a thing.
The threshold is £3000. You have to declare anything over that amount.
Same reason any other income is taxed I guess.
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If you are in the UK, you do not pay tax on the sale of personal possessions below the capital gains tax threshold. This will be the case for most people here. HMRC has a helpful tool on their website to walk sellers through this.
A personal possession is something you bought for your own use, not to sell on for a profit. So, let’s say you bought a Digitone when it came out years ago to use in your own hobby music and now you have sold it for less than you paid for it because you want to put the money towards a Digitone II. In this case, you have sold a personal possession.
A DN is not a mechanical item or a medal so we select ‘Something else’
The DN sold for much less than £6000 (capital gains tax threshold)
You do not need to tell HMRC about this income
Nothing about the tax rules has changed, all that has changed is that HMRC has told online marketplaces to report sellers earning above a certain threshold to investigate traders they believe should have been paying tax.
If HMRC contacts you about your online sales, explain your situation and ask them what you need to do. If you can show you were selling personal possessions they will probably leave it at that. The worst case scenario is that you will need to file a tax return and may need to pay tax. If you are not confident in doing this, a Chartered Accountant can help for a small fee.
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You could say you’re selling them at a loss, then technically… tax refund?
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It’s all a right load of bollocks how eBay is these days. The whole ‘buyer insurance’ and payouts 2 days after they’ve received your goods takes the piss out of both buyers and sellers. Then this Big Brother tax stuff on top… cheers.
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Big brother tax stuff is them conforming to uk law in regards to dealing with their customers - it’s the govt trying to ensure we all pay relevant tax ( let’s not get distracted with millionaires , tax avoidance , evasion etc … and how eBay pay their tax and the inevitable ramble into Amazon , Starbucks etc )
How is any of that discussion helping us understand how we need to deal with eBay & hmrc when selling a few items ?
It’s not.
But hey, I’m not the forum police.
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